crecelius



LOUIS J. OREOELIUS, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONEHALF TOANDREW WARREN, OF SAME PLACE.

LlFTlNG-JACK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 383,709, dated May 29,1888.

Application filed November 25,1887. Serial No. 256,133. (No model.)

To aZZ'whom itmay concern:

Be it known that I, LoUIs J. CRECELIUS, of

the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri,

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Lifting-Jacks; andIdohereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same.

My invention is an improved lifting'jaek. The entire jack, ashereinafter shown, is dexo signed more especially for the smaller classof jacks, such as those commonly used as tracklifters and for work ofsimilar character; but parts of the invention are well fitted for jacksof larger size, and are shown in another applir5 cation filed by me inthe United States Patent Office of even date herewith.

The invention is made to reduce the number of parts in theseimplements,to simplify their structure, and thus render them cheaper andmore durable. I have also sought to render the action ofthelifting-lever uniform, so that the same power is required for a givenweight throughout the whole movement of the lever, and to increase theeffectiveness of the lever without complication of parts.

The form in which I have embodied my in vention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 representsa side elevation ofmy 0 liftingjack; Fig. 2, a central vertical section from front to rear;Fig. 3, a top view of the jack; Fig. 4, a plan view of the forkedliftinglever. Fig. 5 is a horizontal scction'through the standard, showing thebar or fingerpicce 5 for releasing the grip-roller.

In the drawings, A represents the standard, which may be made ofcast-iron or of any other material, if desired, and preferably with arectangular base to adapt it to fit between 0 railway-tics. It has acentral vertical channel, a, for the ordinary liftingbar, B, which fitsand slides therein when not held by the gripping mechanism. Near theupper end of the standard and opening into the channel is a chamber, a,having a rear face inclined backward at the top. In this chamber is aroller, b, preferably cylindrical and of hardened steel, and when theparts are in place this roller bears on one side against the rearinclined wall and on the other directly against the face of theliftiug'bar. When said bar is lifted, the roller moves freely up on theinclined wall; but when the bar tends to return (the standard beinginits proper vertical position) the roller is pressed by the incline inthe ordinary manner against the bar and holds it by a secure grip. Theface of the chamber against which the roller bears might be formed inthe casting itself, either of the cast metal or of a plate of steel settherein; but in order to provide a hardened-steel face, and onealsowhich may be renewed, I form the chamber suflicientl'y deep to receive asteel plate, e. Preferably, as shown, there is a small groove made inthe lower part of the chamber at the foot of the rear wall, into whichthe lower end of the plate fits while it is held by a setscrew, f,above. The lifting-head D has a similar chamber with like hardenedsteelplate and roller impinging against the liftingbar. Above this chamber apin, 9, is set in a suitable cavity in the head and provided with aspring, it, held above bya plug, h, and pressing the pin down through ahole in the bottom of the cavity to bear upon the roller and hold itclosely to its work. This causes it to act promptly and without lostmotion at each movement of the head when lifting. To release the rollerwhen the head descends, I have provided a stud, is, projecting upward inline with the roller. It is set in the top of the standard and projectsthrough the bottom of the chamber, and is so arranged in position andlength that when the head is down on the top of the standard the rolleris lifted and released from the nip between the face of the liftingbarand the rear plate.

The lifting-lever E is pivoted at m on the top of the standard. It ispreferably made forked, as shown in Fig. 4, and has thus two 0bcarings-one on each sideto lift squarely on the head and preventbinding. The cars a of the forks form the bearings of the lever, andtheir peripheries are extended at 0 to form cam-faces, on which rest thefriction-rollers p, 5 which turn on studs upon the head. As the lever Eis lifted, the higher part of the camface 0 on each side is broughtagainst the friction-rollers, and the head is lifted, carrying with itthe lifting-bar, through the action of {00 the gripping mechanism in thehead. The curve on the cam-faces is uniform and conforms ing the headdown promptly.

in its rise and movement to the shifting position of the cam-lever, sothat the operator constantly exerts the same power. The constructionalso reduces the friction to a minimum.

The action of the cam is wedge-like, so that the power exerted to raisethe head is the combined power of a wedge and a lever. This renders theuse of a short lever practicable; but I have provided means by which thelever may be extended, if required, tobe of greater length. This Iaccomplish my making the handle of gas-pipe, riveted to the castingswhich form the jaws. In the gas-pipe handle G, I insert ahandle-extension, G, which may be retained in the handle by any suitablestop, and is pushed in when not required for use, as it is desirable tohave the instrument in compact form, and when closed the lever does notextend beyond the standard. The handle of the cam-lever might bereversed in position, or the cam reversed, so' that it would lift bydepression; but I prefer the arrangement shown, as thereby the operatoris enabled to exert a power greater than his weight.

Over the friction-rollers of the head a loop, q, of the cam-lever isextended, curved to conform to the working-face of the cams. Thisaffords positive and certain means for bring- The friction-rollers onthe lifting-head may be on any suitable projections or shoulders on thehead, the whole head being formed in one piece.

In operating the jack it will be obvious that both gripping mechanismsmust be released in order that the lifting-bar may fall freely. Thegripping-roller in the head is automatically lifted out of the nipbetween the rear face of its chamber and the bar when the head isbrought down to the standard. A similar but movable releasing device isprovided for the lower or holding grip. This consists of a releasing baror rod which slides in a recess in the rear face of the standard. Thewall of the standard is slotted through at the bottom of this recess toallow the end of the bar 2, (shown detached in Fig. 5,) which is bentout after insertion at right angles, as shown at 4, to project through.Outside it may be bent in any required direction, so as to be operatedeither by the hand or foot of the workman. The upper end of the barprojects through the bottom of the standard-chamber in line with theroller, and the slot is long enough to allow the bar to be raised tolift the roller out of the nip. In order to let the lifting-bar down itis necessary only to hold it, and whatever weight it may carry, by thecam-lever, then to raise the lower roller by lifting the bar 2, andWhile this is up to lower the head to the standard,which releases theupper roller and lets the lifting-bar fall. Instead of the bar 2, alever or similar device may be used. It is simply a lifter adapted to beworked by the hand or foot of the operator.

, The lifting-bar has the ordinary offset, a, at the lower endprojecting through a slot in the standard, from 'the channel in whichthe bar moves. It also has a taper from top to bottom on the side nextto the rollers. This I prefer to make in the form of a channel in widthadapted to receive the rollers, which thus are made to bear against thebottom of the channel. This taper increases the grip of the rollers andmakes them effective even when oil or grease happens to get on thesurface of bar or roller. It has another effect, in connection with thefixed inclined rear wall, of importance when considered in connectionwith the wear of the implement. \Vhen the lifting-bar is made of uniformthickness, the position of the roller on the inclined wall in sustainingthe weight is always the same, and the wear is thus concentrated on onepoint. This point of the plate becomes worn and hollowed, and this tendsto soon render the grip ineffective when the plain bar is used; but withthe tapered bar the position of the roller will change as the bar islifted or lowered. Thus when the bar is down and the thickest partopposite the roller, the roller is in the upper part of the inclinedchamber, as shown in full lines, Fig. 2, in gripping; but when the baris up and the thinner part is opposite the roller the roller will be inthe lower part of the chamber during the grip and the position of theroller will vary as to the plate with the position of the bar in respectto elevation. Thus the grip and the wear upon the rear plate aredistributed on every part and the plate or rear wall wears uniformly andevenly; but I do not herein broadly claim the tapering bar, it beingbroadly claimed in the other aforesaid application. 7

The channel in the standard, as shown in the vertical section, is madefrom the point x a little below the grip chambers a trifle larger thanthe lifting bar. This obviates the expense of fitting,which is requiredonly from this point upward, and also avoids any difficulty arising fromslight springing or warping of the standard in the manufacture.

The sectional view, Fig. 2, shows in dotted lines the position of theroller in the standardchamber when the lifting-bar is raised. The rollerfollows the face of the bar and bears against it, and when the bar islifted the roller isin thelower part of the chamber unless raisedtherefrom by the roller-lifting device. The standard and head are shownas cast with ribs 5 and 6 about the roller-chambers. They are located toresist the lateral strain in the gripping and may be of wrought-ironembedded in theeasting.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a lifting-jack, achambered head having a channel for the lifting-bar, said chamber beingformed with a rear inclined wall and opening directly into the channel,a roller in said chamber, and a spring-pin in a recess in the headbearing upon the roller, substantially as described.

2. In a lifting-jack having a standard provided with a holding-grip anda head provided also with a grip, a lifting-bar and a liftingleverpivoted on the standard and provided with a cam-surface fitted to bearagainst a projection on the head and thus to lift the head as the leverrises, substantially as described.

3. In combination, the standard and its grip,

rollcr and a lifting-bar tapering from thenpper end downwardly, and asuitable lifting head and lover, all substantially as descrlbed.

5. In a lifting-jack having a standard pro- 20 vided with a holdinggripand a head provided with a grip, a grooved and tapered l fting-bar andsuitable operating means for 11fting said bar, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name 25 to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LOUIS J. GRECELIUS.

"Witnesses:

ANDREW WARREN, O. D. GREENE, Jr.

